


Love is a Magical Thing

by SCLawrence



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Harry Potter - Freeform, SuperCorp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:22:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28323783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SCLawrence/pseuds/SCLawrence
Summary: Lena Luthor is the new potions professor at Hogwarts and thinks it's just another job until she falls for a certain Kara Danvers.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

“I’m very pleased to announce our new Potions professor, Lena Thorul,” Headmistress Granger said from the podium in the great hall to mild applause from the faculty and students. “Miss Thorul joins us after several years teaching at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic but as a former student of Hogwarts, I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing her the very best.”  
Lena smiled politely. Of course, there was no Lena Thorul on the former list of Hogwarts students but there was a Lena Luthor. She still remembered the day she had walked into this great hall – it hadn’t changed in the slightest since her own student days – and put the frayed old sorting hat on her head. For a moment, there had been silence and Lena had instinctively known that she was going to be sent to Slytherin.  
“Ravenclaw!” the hat had announced to her shock and delight even if Lillian had sent her a howler in the post the very next day for being a failure. Every member of Luthor family had been sent to Slytherin but she wasn’t just a Luthor. Her family on her mother’s side could trace its lineage back to Rowena Ravenclaw herself and further still to Morgana Le Fay. She might never have known that history, of who she truly was had it not been for the pendant her mother had left her (though it had taken years and a betrayal she had never really recovered from to get it back and unlock its secrets).   
The Defence Against the Dark Arts and broom flying teacher sat beside her at the high table for the staff and clapped most enthusiastically of all as the Headmistress’s speech came to an end. “I’m Kara Danvers,” she smiled, offering Lena her hand, which the Luthor promptly shook.   
“Lena Thorul, but I guess you knew that,” she replied.   
It seemed Kara was about to drag her into unwelcome small talk before the food appeared magically in front of them, distracting her, for which Lena was grateful. There was a reason she had changed her name, the Luthors had long served the dark powers of the world from Grindlewald to Voldemort. Indeed, her half-brother Lex had been one of the Dark Lord’s most prominent death eaters and most ardent followers.   
She had taken up this post because no one except the ghosts were likely to remember her now and few would. The headmistress knew the truth, of course, they had been colleagues for years before Hermione’s spell as the youngest ever Minister for Magic and eventual move into education but all of the other teachers had retired or taken up new posts elsewhere. And Beauxbatons, great as it had been for her as an escape, had never really felt like home in the way that Hogwarts did.   
And she was not here to make friends. Friends had only ever brought her pain and betrayal and so she was grateful for the opportunity to eat her dinner in peace, though she ate little and left early. She had never been one to indulge herself, as tempting as it was during a Hogwarts feast. A nice salad was all she needed, thank you very much.  
Lena had lessons to plan and needed some peace and quiet to do it. The library would be empty, it had always been one of her favourite places in the castle, as no ever one bothered her there unless they were willing to risk the wrath of the librarian. As she approached the room, however, she turned away and headed for the potions dungeon. This was her own domain now, her sanctuary, and no one could enter without her agreeing to it.   
It was not the grandest classroom in the castle but she had worked hard here, even inventing new potions while she’d still been a student, she knew every inch of the place and sat behind the desk with a satisfied sigh. It was strange to see things from this angle but Lena knew she’d get used to it soon and opened up a length of parchment and a quill, beginning to write.  
Her lesson plan flowed naturally unto the page and she lost all track of time as she worked, her candles burning away to almost nothing before she flicked her wand reignited the flames. There was a knock on the door and she looked up.   
“Lena? Are you in there? It’s me, Kara. I noticed you left before dessert and well, I brought you some. Can I come in?”   
Lena rose from her desk and headed for the door, fully intending to turn Kara down but when she opened the door and saw the pretty blonde’s smile there was a tiny crack in her armour. It turned out to be just enough and Kara Danvers had found her way into Lena’s life.   
“You brought doughnuts?” Lena asked her with a smile. “Well, you’ve found my kryptonite. Come on in.”


	2. Chapter 2

After the excesses of the feast the night before, classes on the first day of term began later in the morning than usual but even so, 10 o’clock rolled around and Lena stepped into her classroom to begin her first ever lesson in the school where she had once been a student.  
Remembering her own teacher’s first words back in the day, she cleared her throat and began.   
“Of all the classes you take at this school, this will be the one that challenges you more than any other. You won’t be needing this here,” she flourished her wand, producing a series of sparks that danced around the room, illuminating every crevice and dust filled corner. It always helped to give the students something to gawp at on the first day.   
As the light died she tapped her wand to her forehead. “Instead, you’ll be needing this. Along with an appreciation for trying new things. For pushing the limits wherever you can.” She walked to a student’s desk and picked up their textbook. “This was used here in my day,” Lena told the class, “because they want to teach you the same basics I learned, that my grandmother learned, but there’s so much more to potions than a dry old textbook can ever hope to teach.”  
Putting the book back down, she returned to her desk and looked out at the class. “Tell me,” Lena asked, quoting her old professor Severus Snape, “what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”  
Out of the twenty or so first year students in the room, only one hand went up. “What’s your name?”  
"Diana, professor, Diana Prince. By mixing an infusion of wormwood with powdered root of asphodel you can make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death."  
“Very good, Diana, 10 points to Gryffindor.” That was where her tribute to her old professor ended. She was there to encourage the students to learn, no matter what house they came from. “With potions you can produce luck, starve off death, and even unlock the secret to true love.”   
There was an appreciative murmur from the girls in the class and she raised her finger in warning. “Controlling someone through a potion may not be considered unforgivable like some of the curses your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher will teach you about when you’re ready but it’s really no different. Take it from me, no fake love, no matter how intense, can compare to the real thing.”   
She was still waiting for the real thing, of course, but they didn’t need to know that.   
*  
Kara looked over at her class, who stood a little uncertainly next to their brooms on the ground. “Right, who here has flown before?”   
One or two of the students raised their hands and she nodded, that was about normal. Even in wizarding families, parents were often worried about giving their kids access to flying objects and looking at the young faces before her, she couldn’t blame them. Still, Kara had a job to do and she was good at it. In another life, she might have joined the Holyhead Hornets as a seeker. That life had ended the day her world had come crashing down around her, the day one of Voldemort’s top Death Eaters Lex Luthor had attacked their home in the middle of the night. Her mother had died buying Kara the time she needed to get away but she would never forget the fear in her eyes or the screams that had followed her as she had raced through the woods.   
She had eventually been adopted by the Danvers family and a Quidditch mad sister Alex but her own aspirations to play the sport her parents had introduced to her had died with them. And even Alex had ended up pursuing a career first as a healer and then as an Auror with the Ministry of Magic.   
“Okay, everyone, place your hand over your broom and say ‘up!’,” Kara told her students. This was always the amusing part. A handful of students’ brooms rose instantly into their hands, for some the brooms merely wobbled a little on the ground, while others didn’t move at all. She laughed softly when saw one student stoop down and pick theirs up when they thought she wasn’t looking.   
When everyone had finally managed to get their brooms, she instructed the class to mount them and gave them some basic instructions on flying. “Not too far, not too fast. Stay within the courtyard and don’t hit anyone else’s broom or it’ll cost your house fifty points and mean detention for you!” Kara didn’t like threatening the students but there was usually one who tried something reckless.   
After watching them for a few moments, confident that there wasn’t going to be any trouble, she flicked her wand and set up an obstacle course of ringed loops for them to fly through. “No pushing or shoving, this isn’t a game of Quidditch! First person through all of the rings gets twenty points!”   
As the students began to fly around the courtyard, she spotted Lena standing in alcove watching her and walked over.   
“Care to join us?” Kara asked her with a smile.   
“Oh, no, thank you. I’ve never liked flying. Give me a portkey or floo powder any day.”   
“That’s a shame,” she replied, “I love flying, there’s nothing else like it but you know, I’d be more than happy to give you a private lesson some time, if you want.”   
For a moment, it looked like Lena was going to say no, but then she nodded. “I’d like that,” the potions professor smiled and suddenly, Kara’s day was a whole lot better.


	3. Chapter 3

A week had passed since the start of term and there were butterflies in Lena’s stomach as she walked through the halls of Hogwarts from her quarters. The students were already under curfew for the night, confined to their common rooms and dormitories and the castle was quiet but for the occasional ghost or comment from a painting as she passed.   
Finally, she walked out the great front doors of the castle and made her way to the Quidditch stadium. Even as a student she had never set foot here, preferring the solitude of the library to the noise and bustle of the crowd of spectators. When she got there, however, there was only one person in the arena and she smiled as Lena approached. That was something Lena definitely wasn’t used to, someone being happy to see her but Kara was, the warmth of her smile and the look in her eye offered no hint of a lie, no hint of any deception.  
Lena offered her own smile as she approached but she still couldn’t fathom why she had agreed to this. Flying always made her uneasy but here she was all the same, about to do just that.   
“You look a little pale, we can do it another time, if you like?” Kara suggested.   
“No, no, let’s do it now. There’s no one else here to see me make a fool of myself,” Lena replied. Kara had a surprisingly calming effect on her and even if she didn’t enjoy herself, she supposed there was no harm in getting out of the castle for an hour or two.   
“I won’t let that happen,” Kara told her with a warm smile and handed over a broom.  
“You’d be surprised at how capable I am of making a fool of myself,” Lena replied with a snort but she took the broom all the same. She hadn’t been on one in years and aside from the conversations of colleagues and students she overhead in passing, Lena had no idea about the best or latest models or who was winning the Quidditch league but she could tell from the quality of the wood that it had been well made.   
Looking to Kara for reassurance, Lena took a deep breath and mounted it as the blonde waved her wand and the training rings appeared in the air above them.   
“Let’s take it slow, it’s not a race. Just follow my lead and try to have fun!” With that, Kara was off and Lena rose from the ground a little shakily as she tried to follow. It was no more enjoyable than she remembered but the company was infinitely better.   
Tilting her broom to the right, she flew through the first ring successfully and grinned.   
“That’s it, Lena, you can do it!” Kara cheered her on. She was so easy going on her broom, hands off it, clapping her on. Lena, on the other hand, held on for dear life but she managed a weak smile and a nod and set off for the next ring.   
The most remarkable thing about Kara, she thought as she flew, was how kind she was, how understanding. She offered advice but never chastised, she was patient even when Lena’s own patience ran low. It didn’t take her long to realise what made Kara such a great teacher and she hoped she came across half as reasonable with her own students as the blonde was being with her right now.   
And as she soared, flying faster as Kara took her uncertainty and turned it into confidence, Lena admitted that it felt good to feel the wind whipping through her hair.   
“Just one more!” Kara grinned as she flew alongside the potions professor.   
“One more,” Lena nodded, she could do one more. Steadying herself, she flew forwards. It was only perhaps a hundred feet away but somewhere between her start point and the ring itself, Lena began to wobble and hit the edge of the ring. She was thrown off balance, a scream escaping her lips as she slipped from her perch on the boom and fell off, clinging to it fiercely.   
“Hold on, Lena!”   
“I am!” she replied, no longer enjoying the wind in her hair. Now it was terrifying. Lena dangled some thirty feet above the ground, her nails digging into the wood of the broom. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kara take out her wand but it was too late. She was falling.   
And then she wasn’t.   
Kara’s held her steady with her wand and brought Lena down to the ground, flying down to join her a moment later. “Lena, are you all right?” she asked, fussing over her.   
“I’m fine, just a little shaken.”   
“I guess this means there’ll be no more lesson?” Kara asked, seeming genuinely upset by the prospect.   
Lena looked at her for a moment before answering. “No, there’ll be more lessons. It was going well… until I fell off.”   
Kara’s smile seemed to light up the whole Quidditch stadium and she gave Lena a tight hug. “I was hoping you’d say that.”


	4. Chapter 4

The weeks flew by and indeed, there was a fair bit of flying involved. Lena was, slowly but surely, getting better at it under Kara’s guidance. She would never be a pro but then, she didn’t need to be. Lena was doing this more for the joy that Kara’s company brought her than any real yearning to learn or improve. Though, as ever, she was competitive and she listened to Kara’s instructions and she did indeed get become more confident and better able to take the initiative while she was on a broom. Most importantly of all, she didn’t hit anything again.   
She still remembered the touch of Kara’s big, strong arms around her as the blonde checked her for injuries after falling off the broom and she felt something she had never really known before. Desire, yes, but something more than mere passion; Lena was sure, as crazy as it was, that she felt the stirring of love for the Flying and Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.   
Lena didn’t dare to voice her feelings aloud, of course, for fear of driving Kara away. What if she was in love with Kara purely because of her kindness and had it been offered by anyone else, she would have loved them too? What if Kara felt differently and shunned her? No, it was better to keep quiet and dream and face cold reality.   
Soon enough, it was Halloween and all of the castle had been transformed with cobwebs and the students had been encouraged to wear costumes, the teachers too. It was the most important holiday for the wizarding world in many ways, though as usual, it had taken Kara to convince her to dress up. Kara could talk her in almost anything.   
And so it was that she walked down the steps into the Great Hall of Hogwarts dressed as a vampire and took her seat at the high table, her face breaking into a smile as Kara walked towards. The blonde was dressed as a member of the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team and she chuckled softly.   
“Don’t they always lose?” she asked.   
Kara gasped theatrically as she sat down beside Lena. “You know something about Quidditch?”   
“I’ve been spending too much time with you.”   
The blonde laughed and nodded, “they haven’t won the cup since 1872 but they won it twenty one times before that! It’s their motto I like, really, ‘let’s hope for the best’.”  
Food appeared before them and Lena began to eat, a smile on her face as she did so. Kara was one of the most optimistic people she knew and it tended to rub off on those around her, Lena certainly felt more upbeat when she was around her friend, as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders that she didn’t even know was there.  
The feast ended after a few hours later and they made their way out of the Great Hall and she noticed Kara looking at her. “I was… I was wondering if you’d like to go for a walk with me around the grounds?”  
“I suppose, it’s still early,” Lena smiled and the two of them left the castle, crossing the bridge beyond the courtyard. Neither of them mentioned a destination but they meandered along the path towards the lake, stopping by the Whomping Willow. The petulant tree was illuminated by the light of the moon, the same light that lit up Kara’s face and she smiled once again, marvelling at just how beautiful the other professor was.   
At some point along their walk, their hands had naturally slipped into each other’s, their fingers interlocking and Lena smiled. Kara really had wormed her way into Lena’s life and despite everything her initial resistance to the idea of friendship, the Luthor found that she didn’t mind at all.  
“Lena Thorul,” Kara said softly, giving her hand a light squeeze, “we’ve spent a lot of time together these past few months and I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me. I mean a real date, there’s this place in Hogsmeade, it’s a nice little restaurant and they do kale, I know you like that,” she made a bit of a face, but it was an adorable one, “and um…”   
“Yes, Kara, yes, I’ll go on a date with you but there’s something you should know about me,” Lena sighed, wanting Kara to know the truth but finding it so hard to say the words aloud.   
“You can tell me anything, Lena.”   
“My name isn’t Lena Thorul… it’s… it’s Lena Luthor,” she said and as soon as she did so, she saw Kara’s face fall and their hands fell apart.   
“You… no, no, you can’t… be,” Kara stammered, tears coming to her cheeks.   
“I’m not like…”   
“Lex killed my parents!” the blonde sobbed and shook Lena off when she reached out to touch her shoulder.   
“I’m sorry, Kara, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, I didn’t want this.”  
“I can’t, Lena,” she answered between tears, “I just can’t. I’m sorry.” Kara turned and walked away and Lena sat down on a rock, ignoring the cold as her own tears streamed down her face. The Luthor curse had finally struck her again.


	5. Chapter 5

Lena didn’t sleep at all that night, as much as she wanted to, as much as her tears wore her down. Sleep remained elusive, there were spells and potions she might have taken to induce it, but deep down, she felt like she deserved this pain. She hadn’t been involved in the deaths of Kara’s parents but she felt responsible all the same. The sins of her family ran deep and absolution did not come easy. What had she done to earn forgiveness, after all?   
And while she couldn’t say she was surprised at breakfast the next morning, it broke her heart when Kara looked at her and took a seat at the far end of the high table. She stifled tears and excused herself early, heading to the potions classroom in the dungeons. Lena told herself she wanted to prepare for the day’s lessons but she knew that wasn’t true.   
She sat for the longest time at her desk with her head in her hands and somehow found more tears to shed. It was only when she heard the classroom door open as the students piled in for the first lesson of the day that she quickly used her wand to dispel them and put on a brave face.   
It would get easier in time. It had to, didn’t it? Except Kara wasn’t just anyone. She had been Lena’s best friend, her only friend and the whole situation was made worse by the fact Kara had been the one to ask her on a date. She had felt the same way about Lena that Lena felt about Kara and now there was a chance that they would never get to experience what might have been.  
Returning to Hogwarts had been a mistake, but then, Lena never could have known that Kara would worm her way through her defences, that they would find comfort in each other’s company with the possibility of more.   
The days after merged into each other with November giving way to December and preparations for Christmas. It had always been a difficult season for Lena. The Luthors had not been keen to celebrate it and she had stayed in Hogwarts every time the holiday rolled around. The castle was all but empty at that time of year and she fondly remembered the twenty or so students who did not go home sitting around one table in the Great Hall, all allegiance to their houses forgotten for a few days.   
There weren’t many teachers either but she was surprised this year when Kara announced two weeks before the day that she would be staying too. Her sister, Alex, was staying with her girlfriend Kelly’s family, and her adoptive mother Eliza was out of the country. That was going to be… awkward. There were only going to be four teachers staying for the holidays, Lena, Kara, Hermione, and Neville, the botany professor.  
Still, the castle was large and outside of meal times, they could avoid each other.   
She counted down the days, correcting end-of-term assignments and giving students who needed help extra lessons, anything to fill her days. Occasionally she would see a student with a broom and walk the other way. It was stupid, she knew that, and such an overreaction to her predicament. They had never even gone on a date.   
But then, they had spent hours alone together. Talking, laughing, breaking down each other’s barriers. They had been vulnerable with each other in a way that made little sense if either of them had viewed their relationship as one of mere friendship.   
Lena glanced out the window when she heard a loud cheer reverberate from the Quidditch stadium, the last match of the year. The game was between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and even Lena knew that it would be tense, they always were. And Kara would be there, sitting with the teachers and secretly cheering for her old house.   
She sighed and hoped, for Kara’s sake, that Gryffindor had just scored.


	6. Chapter 6

Kara sighed softy as she looked out through the window of her quarters in the Gryffindor tower, it was starting to snow and normally she loved everything about this time of year from the weather to the decorations and the food, oh god, the food at Hogwarts was simply to die for. This Christmas, though, there was a peculiar melancholy hanging over the normally chirpy blonde and it was all Lena Luthor’s fault.   
No, that was unfair. She hadn’t been there when Kara’s parents had died. Lena had only been a child herself and yet, she had lied about who she truly was. Can I really blame her? Thorul wasn’t even that much of a change, just Luthor rearranged. Kara should have figured it out sooner but she hadn’t or maybe she hadn’t wanted to.   
The worst part was, Kara couldn’t stop thinking about her. Lena was charming and funny and sophisticated and she had looks to kill for. That jawline alone could probably cut diamonds. Through the window in the courtyard below she could see Lena walking through the freshly fallen snow, her footsteps meandering as she walked for the bridge out of the castle. Lena didn’t have many friends, maybe no friends at all other than Hermione and herself – if Kara was still a friend – and it was a terrible thing to be alone at Christmas.   
But as much as she wanted to put on her coat and go there to join her, something was stopping Kara. She was being unfair on Lena, she knew that, but even so, she was not ready to admit to the depth of her feelings for the Luthor and with another sigh, she turned away.   
The days of the Christmas holidays tended to blend into each other but this year they were like a deathly dance as the two of them avoided each other, moving to other rooms and corridors, sitting at opposite ends of the table in the common rooms and Great Hall. She saw Lena cast furtive glances in her direction when she thought she wasn’t looking and it was clear that Lena wanted to speak to again, that she missed Kara as much as Kara missed her but still neither gave in and more than once, Kara cried herself to sleep as she remembered her family and compared the pain of their loss to the joy she felt when she was with Lena.   
Christmas morning came and brought more snow with it and after the opening of the presents Kara headed for the lake with no clear destination in mind. It was a few hours before dinner and she wanted some time to herself to gather her thoughts and her courage. This couldn’t go on any longer.   
As she walked across the bridge leading from the castle, not really paying attention to where she was going, her foot slipped on some ice and she staggered, sliding off the edge of the parapet with a yelp as her wand fell from her pocket and into the frozen waters below.   
Her fingers dug into the stonework of the bridge but she was slipping, she could feel the force of gravity pulling her away and then she was falling.   
From the corner of her eye she saw a blur of motion and then there were hands around her as she picked up on a broom by… “Lena?!”   
The Luthor simply nodded and landed on the side of the lake. “Accio wand!” she called out and took Kara’s wand when it had floated over to her, handing it to the other teacher with a soft smile. “I’ve… I’ve been practicing every day, the flying, I mean.”   
“Really? I had no idea…”   
“And I never thought I might have to save someone, especially you.”   
“Thank you, Lena,” she replied and before she knew what she was doing, Kara wrapped her arms around the potions professor and hugged her tightly.   
“You’re welcome, Kara, but I, um, I should go. I know you don’t want to…”   
“No, no, Lena. Stay, with me, please, and not just because you saved me.”   
“Why?” the Luthor asked a little suspiciously.   
“So I can do something I should have done on Halloween, say I’m sorry, and do this,” Kara cupped Lena’s cheeks in her hands and leaned in, pressing a kiss to Lena’s lips. “So… will you go on a date with me?”   
“Y… yes, yes, I will,” Lena nodded and the snow swirled around them and everything was right in the world at Christmas.


	7. Epilogue - 19 Years Later

Lorelai Alexandra Luthor-Danvers was not about to start her first day as a student in Hogwarts like most of those she’d be joining when she was sorted that evening. In fact, she got a lie-in in bed that morning because she didn’t have to very far at all.   
Lori simply had to navigate from her room in the joint quarters her mums; Professors Kara and Lena, had shared since even before they’d gotten married down to the Great Hall in time for the annual first day of term feast.   
She was nervous, though. Her mums had promised that she would get no special treatment just because she was their daughter, she’d have to work just as hard as everyone else. But still, she had grown up in a school and picked things up, during the summer holidays when the library had been empty, her mums had taught her things most students wouldn’t learn for a few years yet or played games in the Room of Requirement she couldn’t wait to show her friends.   
When she rose and got dressed in her uniform, she took a deep breath and looked at her reflection in the mirror.   
“You’re going to do brilliantly, Lori,” Lena smiled as she walked up behind her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.   
“What if I end up in Gryffindor like mummy? Or one of the other houses?”   
“There’s nothing wrong with that. You know, all of my family were Slytherins for generations but if you go back far enough, you get to Rowena Ravenclaw herself.”   
“And now you’re head of Ravenclaw House.”   
“I am,” Lena said proudly, “and your mummy is head of Gryffindor but she was very nearly a Hufflepuff.”   
“Really?” Lori asked. She could definitely see Kara as a Hufflepuff.   
“Really,” Kara smiled as she joined them. “The Sorting Hat took ages to figure me out. Your mum is right, Lori, it doesn’t matter what house you end up in. You’re going to do great things.”   
Lori smiled as she looked in the mirror with her mums around her. Whatever happened, she loved Hogwarts, it was the best home in the whole world, and she loved her mums just as much.   
All was well.


End file.
